Elasticity
by Tobirion
Summary: Never once had Sephiroth thought that Angeal and Genesis had romantic feelings for each other. Now, it was kind of obvious that they did. Being sixteen was rough. AGS, for xiaa.


**Hi people! This is for my good friend Xiaa. Her birthday was... a little while ago so this almost isn't a birthday fic any more and is more of a friendship fic. You're my friend xiaa and I love you! So, here! I can't say how nice and great a person you are enough. You're a wonderful rolemodel and I wish I was more like you ^.^  
And now I'd like to say enjoy! And watch out for cute sephiroth... he's very cute. And that many more fics are coming. I get out of school in two days ;D. ~yay summer~  
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII. :(**

* * *

He could hear them.

Fifty yards away, maybe. Walking slowly, chatting softly. It was after curfew, so it was not surprising they were keeping their voices down.

Sephiroth inched backwards, something that may have been panic rising in his chest. There was a vending machine down the hallway a bit—he went for it. Sephiroth soundlessly hurried to it and ducked around the side. If they saw him… he didn't even know what he'd do. He didn't want to find out.

They walked by together. Sephiroth's body was pressed as closely to the wall as he could get it; luckily he was in uniform still—the dark colors would be to his advantage.

They didn't see him.

Narrowed green eyes watched them as they continued on their way. It was almost as if nothing was any different (Sephiroth was no fool, however. He knew what he had seen).

For a full three minutes after they left Sephiroth remained frozen, listening to the humming of the vending machine and the erratic beating of his own heart. But finally he moved, cracking his neck and retreating to his quarters, mind purposely blank. His little room—and it was barely more than that—wasn't the greatest of places to live, but it was his, not the labs anymore, and—most importantly—he was alone.

Sephiroth showered and brushed his teeth in a daze, only really half-there. Pain was starting to bubble up from his stomach; Sephiroth resisted it, knowing he'd think about this rationally once he was in bed.

Finally he let his hair go loose, gracefully and with great care got into bed, fixed the covers to perfection and reached out to turn the lights off. Then he lay perfectly still, looking up at the ceiling.

Nothing. For maybe ten minutes or more Sephiroth just stared. The frantic thumping in his chest gradually got slower, his tense muscles relaxed, and for a moment Sephiroth thought he might actually be able to sleep. His eyes closed, and unfortunately he was proved false. There they were again…

Genesis and Angeal were his friends. Yes, they were. He was starting to make some acquaintances with others in the SOLDIER ranks, but none were as close to him as Hollander's specimens were.

They were all sixteen now, and as such were granted some liberties. Sephiroth had this tiny, tiny apartment away from Hojo. No longer did they have to be in the labs by nine—they could stay out as long as they liked. Angeal was currently studying for his driver's license.

Lately Sephiroth, becoming more and more attached to his two friends, had been thinking that there was less _Sephiroth_ on one side and _AngealandGenesis_ on the other—but more _them_. All three, a group.

That must have been an incorrect assumption.

That night Sephiroth had gone looking for them. Last weekend they had a 'sleepover' in Genesis's shitty little apartment; Sephiroth couldn't even remember having that much fun before in his life. He was going to ask them if they wanted to do it again, this time at his place.

He had found them in an unused office near the Director's. The image was still fresh—Angeal sat on the edge of a desk, Genesis leaning into him, fingers in the oldest teen's hair. Sephiroth considered himself too young (or perhaps too moral) to look at the magazines Genesis had in his closet, but he knew kissing when he saw it.

For just a few seconds he watched, seeing the way they clumsily but stubbornly persisted and the way Genesis' arms wound around Angeal's neck and stayed there, like the hug he always gave Sephiroth but... not.

Then he had run away, hiding from his friends like a coward. He didn't want to see them.

Sephiroth seized the pillow beneath his head and hurled it against a wall. He didn't feel much better.

So that's what he was, then? An irritating third-wheel that they tolerated—Hollander had probably told them to try to get along with Hojo's experiment—

Sephiroth curled into a ball, the pain of betrayal heavy on his heart. He wouldn't cry—he was sixteen, no longer a child—but he almost wanted to.

~.~.~.~.~.~

The next day, Sephiroth was different. He looked the same, but inside he had reached a decision. …Sort of. It wasn't much—he had just resolved to... be the same. He wasn't going to be any different.

Maybe he'd be more distant than usual, a bit cooler—but he'd try to be the same old Sephiroth they knew. They couldn't suspect he knew anything; then they'd—he'd have no friends left at all.

The first day of putting his plan in action was difficult. He greeted them in the morning like he usually did on weekends.

"You alright?" Angeal had asked, poking one of the dark circles under Sephiroth's eyes.

"Fine," he had muttered, after that silently walking beside them on their way to breakfast. Genesis had shrugged, probably writing it off as one of his moods. Ugh.

They didn't seem to act any differently. There was no extra contact between them, no secret shared looks, no nothing. It puzzled Sephiroth, but then he realized that they were acting because he was there. He was not an expert on friends but he knew that secrets sucked. Were they even gonna tell him sometime? Probably not!

He skipped lunch later in favor of lifting in one of the gyms. It was deserted, but that didn't matter; he didn't need a spotter.

…He couldn't help it.

Were Angeal and Genesis, somewhere, wondering where he was? Did they even _notice_ he wasn't there? _Not likely_, he thought bitterly. Never once had he thought those two had romantic feelings for each other, or even that they were interested in males. The magazines in Genesis's closet did not feature pictures of men, after all.

Maybe they always had and he had just never noticed. It was possible—Genesis often told him how ignorant he was to all sorts of things, from "_real_ literature" to the way that one young secretary on the first floor looked at him. Maybe he had truly been blind…

His heart still hurt. He was so, so done with thinking about it; he got up off the bench he had been sitting on and moved to a different machine.

When sparring, Genesis and he usually ended up fighting one one, not because Angeal wasn't as good as them—because that certainly wasn't the case—but because Genesis always wanted to beat him so badly he forgot about Angeal. This time, Sephiroth stood awkwardly off to the side, watching the other two go at it.

"The hell do you call _that_?"

"Shut up!"

They laughed and grinned at each other between swings of their swords, and Sephiroth didn't like it. He watched as Angeal's sword was flung out of his hands by a particularly impressive move by Genesis. Before Genesis could act on the momentary weakness, however, the Buster Sword was finally drawn off Angeal's back. Genesis actually cackled as he was flung sideways and smashed into part of the Sister Ray. Sephiroth couldn't watch any more. He had to amuse himself somehow.

He lay down on the very edge of the giant weapon, letting his arms and hair hang down. Beneath him was the ocean. He had been swimming once, it was fun. He didn't like jellyfish though; one had touched his leg and he had kind of... lost it, stopping his panicked yelling only when Genesis had fallen over from laughing. Then he had gotten masamune; there were quite a lot of little jellyfish bodies piled up on the sand that day. He smiled at the memory, squinting and wondering if there were any of the little devils beneath him right now.

His hands swished back and forth, going into the giant metal tube he was on a couple of inches. He spat, watching as it fell and fell until it hit the water. He couldn't hear a splash. Falling down would hurt probably, from this height. He had done a belly flop once in the Shin-Ra pool after Angeal had dared him. That had stung a little.

_Fuck this._

Sephiroth sighed and rolled onto his back, closing his eyes. The sun felt nice. Maybe he could tan. He wanted to; Angeal always looked great each summer after spending some time in the sun. He could hear the oldest boy let out a tremendous yell, then was blessed with one of Genesis's cusses. This was just peachy.

Eventually they tired each other out. There was a loud _clang _as Genesis's rapier and the Buster Sword fell to the ground. They stumbled his way a little.

He slipped up. He sat up and barked rudely, "Remembered about me, did you?"

"...Oh, sorry," Angeal said after a moment, realizing why Sephiroth was mad. Genesis couldn't seem to understand why Sephiroth would lie down on the edge of the dirty thing.

Sephiroth was mortified. No, he had told himself to play it cool and he would.

As soon as they all left the VR room about twenty minutes later Sephiroth said he had to do something and split. The other two went where they were going together, he noticed. Whatever.

He had to go to the library. The Shin-Ra library would probably have, like, one book about relationships in it, so he went to the Midgar one. Working though this stuff by himself wasn't working, if today was any example, so he needed help. Books had always helped him in the past; they had to now.

Midgar library was a nice place. It was almost a shame that he didn't come here more often. The Shin-Ra one had everything he normally needed though, so there hadn't been a reason to. Now, however, he could buy an energy drink and a snack from the little café in the corner and wander around at his leisure. It was crowded but not too much so, and aside from one middle-aged mother with a toddler in the same section he was, he was alone.

Unfortunately, most of what he found was about babies. Those weren't helpful, since none of them could bear children (but you never knew with Hollander and Hojo, Sephiroth thought with not a small amount of disgust).

He didn't learn much. One of the books had talked about what to do if the reader had feelings for a person already in a relationship; its advice was to get the person you cared for, while another text said not to intrude on their happiness and leave well enough alone. That didn't really help. He needed something about feeling not wanted, awkward and out of place. And he didn't have romantic feelings for either of his friends, so the one he skimmed through about _Looking inside oneself and seeing the Light, Opening one's mind and discovering Options, Voluntarily making oneself Vulnerable and Enjoying the results of one's Effort_, (or L.O.V.E. for short—or should it be L.L.O.O.V.V.E.E? Sephiroth thought with a snort) was rather useless too.

Right?

Because he wasn't looking to... be part of...what was going on. He just felt a bit lonely now maybe. Whatever. Fuck it.

Sephiroth left after playing a short game with the toddler. He'd make a funny face when the mother wasn't looking, it would laugh, and Sephiroth would smile. Kids were cute, but he didn't think he'd want one. That lady could read her baby books by herself—he was _out_ of there.

After that, Sephiroth went back to his _act normal _approach. It was getting harder and harder to keep hanging out with the two of them, though. When in their presence he got the feeling that they didn't want them there, that he was just a nuisance, the freak kid with the silver hair and the creepy eyes that they had to put up with—_Shiva, Sephiroth, get over it._

For a few days he ate lunch at a different time. This was nice; he could sit by himself and eat in peace. Then that changed into avoiding them more and more.

He was sick of seeing them smile at each other when they thought he wasn't looking. He was sick of never knowing what to say around them anymore. He'd see them during certain drills or in class maybe, but he didn't seek them out anymore. If they wanted to see him, they could initiate it. He was tired of it.

Rather than wasting time with those two, Sephiroth was able to fully concentrate on SOLDIER. He was Third-Class currently, and hopefully before the next month was over he could make it to Second, with luck. His instructors praised him on his improved work ethic (which had always been rather exceptional, admittedly) and even Hojo seemed excited about his rapid improvement.

Then one day Sephiroth had to return one of his earlier classrooms to pick up a notebook he had absentmindedly left in there. Those notes were pretty important. He chewed on a lock of his hair (it was quickly becoming a bad habit of his) and opened the door with his keycard, flicking the lightswitch up next to the door.

There was a gasp from inside, and he blinked at a shocked-looking Genesis and Angeal. They were sitting on the instructor's desk; it seemed he had interrupted them in the middle of quite a...heated...what-

_I guess they really like desks, _Sephiroth thought wryly, because that was all he could do.

He remained calm. "Sorry to disturb you," he said in a smooth voice, not hitching at all. "I apologize for the interruption." He pushed the lightswitch back down, the lights turned off, he closed the door gently, then took a few quiet strides away from the door.

Then, he bolted.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

About a week later, Sephiroth was feeling very _lethargic _one evening. He could have been in the gym, yes, but he... just didn't feel like it.

His bed looked inviting. He lay down, halfheartedly dragging a textbook over with him. There was a test next week.

Within ten minutes he had gone crosseyed, and after he read a sentence about survival rations as _'Hojo fondled the gentle popsicles merrily' _he knew he needed to stop. He put the book face-down on his stomach and just chilled.

At some point there was a knock at his door. He knew who it was. Well, he had a 50% chance of guessing correctly. Only two people really knew where his little apartment was. Sephiroth didn't say anything, knowing that they had a copy of his keycard and would waltz inside anyway, even if he said 'go away.'

No one entered, though. Sephiroth lifted his head off the pillow, called "come in" and plopped it back down.

Angeal and Genesis entered, both looking incredibly nervous.

Sephiroth didn't even smile in greeting. This was going to happen, of course, eventually—he didn't feel like talking to them right now though. Exhausting.

"...Hey," Angeal said first, giving a little wave that looked so awkward it was physically painful.

"We're having a sleepover," Genesis said bravely. "We want you to come, it's been a while. Angeal's place."

The curt reply of "No thank you" made the redhead frown.

They seemed to have expected that. They shot each other a look, and Sephiroth suddenly felt like throwing a tantrum, something he hadn't done since he was five. _He didn't want them here._

Angeal sat on the edge of his bed, picking the textbook off his belly and flipping through it. It was for a new class, one neither of them were in. Sephiroth was serious about taking the SOLDIER Second exam in a few weeks. "How've you been, man?"

Sephiroth gave in to the urge and picked up his pillow and covered his face with it. "Pleasant." Childish, definitely. Didn't care.

He heard Genesis sigh. Angeal finally began cautiously. "Look—"

Sephiroth interrupted. "I understand. It's fine. I'm happy for you."

Angeal said quietly, knocking his knuckles against his, "You don't seem very happy."

"I am." His voice was muffled.

Silence. The youngest teen winced into his pillowcase.

"Uhh. So... it doesn't bother you?" Genesis's voice was smaller than what he was used to, and he didn't like it.

"No."

More silence. Sephiroth just laid there. Next Angeal tried to make everything a little better. "There's no girls you're interested in, maybe?" He could probably tell how beat up Sephiroth was over this. He didn't handle... things like this... as well as a normal person would. Probably.

Sephiroth thought. Genesis removed the pillow, and the youngest squinted up at them as he thought. "I guess I don't like girls," he decided finally. "I never thought about it."

Those two looked at each other again. That was making him mad.

"So you like dudes?"

"Hm. Maybe." He considered and looked at the both of them.

Maybe?

Maybe.

Genesis started to talk about some 'cute SOLDIER' guy Sephiroth would like. He interrupted again, voice quiet and flat. "Would you like me to keep to myself? I don't want to intrude on your—happiness."

He was mauled. "Gen-" he began as the redhead fell on his chest, then had his breath knocked out as Angeal fell down on top of _him_.

"It's not like that, Seph!" Angeal said loudly, jabbing the heel of his hand into Sephiroth's cheek with a growl.

Both of them were pushed away with a curse. Sephiroth kicked at Genesis, who had immediately tried to climb back on him and yelled, "Then what-!"

He stopped. Silver-lashed eyelids clenched shut and Sephiroth took a few deep breaths. He was acting like an idiot. He viciously wiped at his eyes with his wrist suddenly; he did not cry. When he had composed himself he opened his eyes again. He then groaned, "Dammit."

Angeal and Genesis looked horrified, then jumped him again.

"...Can you just go away?" he asked quietly.

"No," Genesis growled. "Sephiroth. Don't feel like we forgot about you or anything-"

"I didn't think that," he spat back.

Angeal said sadly, "Yeah, you did."

All their anger seemed to drain out of all of them, and they lay on Sephiroth's bed in a tangled heap for a while. Summer was coming and it was getting hot and sticky, but none moved. "...Ugh," Sephiroth said finally. Genesis combed his fingers through his hair; he'd missed that a little.

Angeal sighed and put his head next to Sephiroth's on the pillow. "Sorry you had to walk in on us like that. We should've toldja."

"I've known for a while, actually. And why didn't you?"

"'Cause...wait." Genesis choked. "For a _while_?"

Sephiroth gave him a flat look. He told them about the day he saw them in that office a few months ago. Angeal almost fell off the bed.

"Look," Sephiroth finally said, forcefully getting to the point of the conversation he had wanted to get to, "We're still friends, right?"

Something about his eyes was sad and vulnerable, and it broke the other two's hearts. The boy who had only ever really known the two of them, other than Hojo, felt betrayed and lost. They knew this was going to happen.

"Duh," Genesis answered. Then his face scrunched up and he looked away from Angeal—he couldn't take it anymore. "And I like you too, idiot. And Angeal does too. We just didn't say anything 'cause we weren't sure if you liked guys or if we'd scare you away or if you wanted to do something like this sooo, uh..." He trailed off.

Sephiroth let out an unattractive "_Hunhn ?"_

Angeal bit his lip, something he only did when he was waiting for his turn with Hollander. "Uh... yeah. Don't wanna freak you out but the two of us kinda..." he paused. "Dammit. After Gen and I found out that we—_liked_ each other we talked about how we both wanted you too but we didn't think—and you, uh. So we waited. And were gonna keep waiting."

"Oh."

"...Mm-hmm," Genesis hummed, cringing away a little.

Sephiroth finally spoke. "You mean, like, three people in a relationship?"

"_Goddess, _Sephiroth, do you have to put it like that, that sounds so—"

"Yes!" Angeal said loudly. "Exactly!"

"The books I read said nothing about that, but... it sounds nice. I mean, of course, yes. But do you two really," he sounded doubtful, "like me like that?"

"Duhhhhhhh," Genesis groaned, fed up. He tugged on Sephiroth's hair and kissed the corner of his mouth, not exactly what he wanted to do but definitely giving the other the big picture.

"This is so awkward," Angeal fretted, embarrassed, not looking at either of them. He grabbed Sephiroth's hand though, and squeezed. "Sorry we're so sucky at asking you out, Seph."

"It's perfectly fine," Sephiroth said, nodding to emphasize his point. He seemed a bit overwhelmed.

Genesis got up finally, going over to his dresser and picking out pajamas and clothes for the next day. "So, sleepover. You're coming. I managed to steal some beer from a Fir—wait." He turned around. "You read books about—_what_?"

Sephiroth felt himself turning a bit red. "I was confused," he defended. "I didn't know what to do so I went to the library."

Angeal's arms went around his waist, and Sephiroth jerked a little, not at all used to so much _contact_. "Aw, it's okay," the other teen laughed into his ear. "You're cute sometimes."

"Ergh, I'm not your girlfriend, stop," Sephiroth said, bristling and almost disgusted. Then he stopped, eyes wide, and Angeal laughed harder.

"C'mon," Genesis called, shoving Sephiroth's toothbrush and underwear into a tiny duffel bag he had gotten from the closet. "We can flirt later!"

Sephiroth allowed himself to be led out of his room. After a moment of indecision he grabbed Genesis's hand, and got a kind smile in return. Things were going a bit fast for him to keep up with, but he understood that he was part of-whatever this was now. No more staying away from Genesis and Angeal. No more third wheel shit.

And it seemed there would be no more books about L.O.V.E. either, thankfully.


End file.
